Increase in Defamation Cases May Stifle Critics in Lawsuit-Crazed U.S.

By |December 13, 2004

Tom Diehl did his homework, immersing himself in the regulatory minutiae of trash. He pored over environmental studies. And after publicly stating his case against a proposed garbage holding pen in his suburban St. Louis community, he won. What Diehl did not anticipate was getting sued for his civic activism, reports the Chicago Tribune. The trash company has filed a $5 million libel and slander suit, alleging Diehl’s and other opponents’ characterization of the firm as “trash terrorists” suggests the company has killed Americans and intends to kill more.

In a nation of sometimes-outrageous talk, where nothing is more American than speaking out at a public hearing, attorneys who follow defamation suits say the number of defamation claims against individuals who do speak out is growing. Politicians are suing citizens as well as other politicians. Businesses seeking approval of development projects are suing people who oppose them. Attorneys who follow the suits say the trend resembles Goliath pummeling David: People with the means to sue are filing suit against individuals who don’t keep lawyers on retainer.

The legislation marks a major change for Republicans, who long hve embraced a law-and-order rallying cry. Now many GOP senators argue for rehabilitating more offenders rather than long-time incarceration.

An Arizona doctor argues that the government should have learned from previous federal anti-drug strategies that blanket prohibition doesn’t work. He calls for scrapping attempts to curtail opioids and replacing it with “harm reduction” policies.

Expensive medications for inmates can lead to substandard care and delays in treatment, and that may have lasting—even deadly—consequences for incarcerated individuals, writes a prison health care advocate.

Murder rates in the nation’s 30 largest cities are projected to fall by nearly 6 percent this year according to the latest data, undercutting claims that the nation is experiencing a “crime wave,” says the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.

School safety commission proposes ending a federal guideline telling schools not to punish minorities at higher rates. The panel largely sidestepped issues relating to guns, although it favors arming some school personnel.